Election season has once again come to Shippensburg University. Speaking from the podium in McFeely’s on Thursday, two candidates sought students’ votes for the 2023-2024 Student Government Association (SGA) Executive Leadership Committee (ELC). Of the five positions open for the election, petitions were filed only by a single candidate for the positions of president and vice president of Internal Affairs. No petitions were received for the positions of VP of Finance, VP of External Affairs or VP of Student Groups.

Kennedy Holt — the current SGA president — is running for the position of vice president of Internal Affairs. Holt vowed to “provide and cultivate an environment of unity, acceptance and advocacy.” Continuing, Holt said they aim to “promote equality, diversity and inclusivity, and eliminate the presence of racial, social, educational and economic barriers and inequality as experienced on our campus.”

Explaining their choice to run for the lower office, Holt commented “As president, sometimes we can become a bit too concerned with how we look as a person with that title. Continuing, Holt said “It’s not merely about the title, but what we do with that title or with that position. So how can I be more effective? How can I be a serving leader to my campus community? So, I feel like the position of internal affairs will allow me to do that.”

Current VP of External Affairs Harun Pacavar was next to speak, having thrown their hat in the ring for the position of SGA president. Pacavar referenced their involvement in four honor societies and various other organizations. Describing their commitment to advocacy, Pacavar continued, “Since I can remember, I have been involved in so much, and provided so much without seeking any compensation for it. I have put others before me in order to fulfill their needs before I fulfill mine. As SGA president, I am here to do the same.”

The evening was a quiet affair due to low attendance. There was just a single student in the audience, who is currently a member of SGA. That became a topic of discussion during the Q&A portion, in which the two candidates addressed the lack of student buy-in into SGA.

“Before, until we got the students we have now, perhaps there wasn’t a lot of trust or transparency within SGA,” Holt said in their response. Holt also assumed some responsibility, saying “I also think we need to keep the peace here within SGA and I can take accountability for that, because maybe I should be doing things differently in my position right now.”

Pacavar suggested a lack of presentable work — caused especially by committees either not meeting or having very few members — as one of the chief causes of the downturn.

“I want SGA to be that anchor on campus where people eventually can say ‘I can rely on them’ or ‘Hey, SGA is having this — why don’t we go show some support because they’ve done so much for us,’” Pacavar explained. They continued, “The past few years, SGA has not been able to do that.”

Voting for this election is taking place from Monday, Feb. 27 through Thursday, March 2 at 4 p.m. Students received an email from SGA Administrative Secretary Lisa Laughlin Monday morning with a link to vote.

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